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TCA Winter Cable Press Tour: Day 3; Sitcom Pre-Emptions; Website Offering Classic TV for Free

Day 3 of the TCA Winter Cable Press Tour has been slow so far. Not many news to report as of now. Hallmark Channel has brought out sitcom stars to star in original TV movies. Some of the stars they are showcasing include: Shirley Jones (The Partridge Family) in Hidden Places, Shelley Long (Cheers) in Falling in Love with the Girl Next Door, Doris Roberts (Everybody Loves Raymond) and Judy Reyes (Scrubs) in Our House, Patrick Duffy (Step by Step, Dallas) in Falling in Love and Desolation Canyon, Stacy Keach in Desolation Canyon and Blackbeard, Richard Chamberlain in Blackbeard andCasper Van Dien in The Curse of King Tut’s Tomb. Here are descriptions of those:

Hidden Places:
A deep yearning for home had led Eliza to Wyatt Orchards ten years ago. Now widowed with two young children, she faces mounting debts and the realization that her family’s financial survival is all up to her. When a stranger, Gabe, appears at her doorstep, Eliza guesses he is no different than the other out-of-luck characters searching for work during the Depression. But the familiarity and determination with which Gabe tends to the orchard raises unanswered questions. With the help and support of her Aunt Batty, Eliza learns to trust and understand Gabe. Academy Award® winner Shirley Jones, two-time daytime Emmy® Award nominee Sydney Penny and Jason Gedrick star in “Hidden Places,” a Hallmark Channel Original movie premiering Saturday, January 28, (9/8c).

Falling in Love with the Girl Next Door
Emmy® Award winner Shelley Long and Academy Award®, Emmy® and Golden Globe winner Patty Duke star as Bridget Connolly (Duke) and Betsy Lucas (Long), two social climbing society mavens from Catalina Island who have engaged in not-so-friendly rivalry for decades. But when Bridget’s daughter (Crystal Allen, “Maid in Manhattan”) returns home after a failed romance and falls in love with the boy next door, (Ken Marino, What I Like About You) her childhood friend and Betsy’s son, the two women try to put their differences aside for the sake of the children in “Falling in Love with the Girl Next Door,” a two-hour Hallmark Channel Original movie premiering Saturday, February 4 (9/8 c). Patrick Duffy (Step by Step) and Bruce Boxleitner (Babylon 5) also star as best friends and golfing buddies who want no part of their wives’ feud.

Our House
No one saw them as people. She saw them as friends. Ruth Galloway, a wealthy Beverly Hills widow, has a chance encounter with Billy, a homeless woman who rescues Ruth after she attempts suicide. This story was profoundly important to the film’s star Doris Roberts, who found inspiration not just in the script but also in the writings of her late husband, author William Goyen. “He wrote that, when we see infirm, handicapped or older people, or the homeless, we tend to turn away,” Roberts said. “We shun them and we take away their light.” It is Roberts’ hope that, just as her character does, people will be inspired to offer hope to those who may have lost it, not to turn away. Five-time Emmy® Award winner Doris Roberts and Judy Reyes (Scrubs) star in “Our House,” a Hallmark Channel Original movie coming in March 2006.

Desolation Canyon
In an outlaw ghost town, two aging gunmen realize they have much to learn about the Old West in “Desolation Canyon.” Golden Globe winner Stacy Keach stars as Samuel Kendrick a retired gunfighter living in an isolated cabin in Desolation Canyon with his common law wife. Patrick Duffy stars as Sheriff Tomas ‘Swede’ Lundstrom, an old friend who fought with Sam on the Union side in the Civil War, where Sam first earned his reputation as a deadeye shot. Following the war, both wild young men rode with an outlaw gang, but have subsequently reformed with Swede switching to the right side of the law. The two men are reunited on a mission to track down Sam’s estranged outlaw son, Johnny Kendrick, in an effort to save him from deeper trouble and possibly a violent death “Desolation Canyon,” a Hallmark Channel Original movie premiering July 2006.

Blackbeard
Cannons roar, cutlasses clash and the Jolly Roger flies high as one of history’s most notorious cutthroats sails the Caribbean in search of buried treasure in the rousing Hallmark Channel Original movie event “Blackbeard” premiering June 2006. Angus MacFadyen (“The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood”) stars in the title role, Mark Umbers (soon to be seen in movie theaters in “The Good Woman”) plays a dashing Royal Navy officer and newcomer Jessica Chastain is the feisty heroine. “Blackbeard” marks the first time that four-time Emmy Award® nominee Richard Chamberlain and three time Golden Globe® nominee Rachel Ward have starred together since their memorable pairing in “The Thorn Birds.” Stacey Keach (“The Prison Break,” “Mike Hammer”) also stars as a pirate captain undone by Blackbeard’s ruthless cunning.

A&E has a lot of original series in the works, most are reality shows, but one is of interest to us: A Guy Walks into a Bar, an hour-long sketch comedy series featuring Cheers’ George Wendt and comedian George Gray. The reality series include Driving Force. John Force is a dominant figure in drag racing, with 118 career victories he holds the world record for consecutive Funny
Car championships. Its described as 8 Simple Rules For Dating My Daughter meets the bonerattling thrills of the drag strip.

If there is anything else we will update it here. So check back!

Meanwhile three sitcoms will get pre-empted for their next episode. ABC's Hope & Faith will be pre-empted this week for a one-hour edition of Dancing with the Stars: The Results. ABC will push back the all-new episode until January 20 and push back the episode that was slated for January 20 to January 27. January 27 was originally a rerun anyway. I think this move is more so ABC can build even more on its new drama hit In Justice, which has done decent. Hope & Faith is coming off a season high in the ratings this past Friday.
Finally, after doing not so good in the ratings this past Monday for the series and season premieres of Emily's Reasons Why Not and Jake in Progress, ABC has pulled both shows for next Monday (Jan. 16) and replaced it with an encore of The Bachelor: Paris season premiere. Maybe so The Bachelor can do better at 10 p.m. and Wife Swap will be a better lead-in for the encore at 9 p.m.

Santa Monica, Calif.-based Internet content provider iWatchNow is looking to take advantage of the growing Internet video market by launching a broadband video-on-demand service.

www.iwatchnow.com will offer classic TV shows such as the The Dick Van Dyke Show, Roy Rogers, and Popeye, along with “cult” movies including Night of the Living Dead and the Kevin Costner vehicle Sizzle Beach USA.
iWatchNow says its service is compatible with PC, Macintosh and Linux computers.
The service will be free to viewers choosing to watch programming with commercials, or $3.99 for a one-time download fee that buys six commercial-free programs, with an additional 99 cents charged for every commercial-free show after that.

Posted by Pavan -- SitcomsOnline.com at 5:59 PM

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